Mongols, Target of ATF Raids – Oct 21, 2008 – USA - More than 1,000 heavily armed federal agents and local police fanned out across Southern California and cities in five other states early this morning, arresting dozens of members of the notorious Mongols motorcycle gang on federal racketeering charges.But the most lasting blow to the San Gabriel Valley-based bikers may be down the road: In an unusual maneuver, the feds are also seeking to seize control of the Mongols' trademarked name, which is typically accompanied by its cherished insignia -- a ponytailed Genghis Khan-like figure riding a chopper.U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien said if his plan is successful, the government would take over ownership of the trademark, and anyone caught wearing a Mongols patch could have it seized by law enforcement on the spot."Not only are we going after the Mongols' motorcycles, we're going after their very identity," O'Brien said in a telephone interview early this morning. "We are using all the tools at our disposal to crush this violent gang."

In addition to racketeering, the Mongols are charged with committing violent crimes -- including murder -- drug trafficking, weapons offenses and money laundering. They used guns, knives, brass knuckles, lead pipes and steel-toed boots to impose their will, often on rivals such as the Hells Angels, but also on unsuspecting members of the public who happened to cross their paths, according to a 177-page indictment unsealed this morning.The indictment, the first three pages of which list 79 gang member defendants with menacing monikers such as "Monster," "Danger" and "Violent Ed," is drawn largely from the observations of four undercover ATF agents who infiltrated the gang and four current Mongols members who became paid informants for the government. Investigators also relied heavily on wiretapped telephone calls in which Mongols, usually speaking in coded language, discussed the gang's allegedly criminal operations.

The unidentified agents, who spent several years working to gain the Mongols' trust, were checked out by a private investigator hired by the gang and given polygraph exams before being formally admitted in 2007.Though this is not the first time the ATF has penetrated the Mongols, having four undercover agents in the gang at once, coupled with the cooperation of four Mongols, provided authorities with a particularly broad view of its inner workings, officials said.

The Mongols were formed in the 1970s by a small group of Latinos who had been rejected from the Hell's Angels because of their ethnicity, as the story goes. The gang now has between 500 and 600 members, the vast majority of them in Southern California, according to law enforcement officials.The gang has a constitution and bylaws and some of the trappings of more conventional organizations -- its members are provided Nextel phones, for example. Decisions regarding membership, dues collection and club policy are made by leaders known in the gang as the "Mother Chapter." They have a headquarters in West Covina stocked with assault rifles, shotguns and bulletproof vests, according to the indictment.

As with many organizations, patches are awarded to signify the status or achievements of its members, though the behavior celebrated by the Mongols differs from most. For instance, a skull and crossbones patch or one proclaiming, "Respect Few, Fear None," is given to members who commit murder or other acts of violence on behalf of the gang, according to the indictment. One member was given permission to have the gang's insignia tattooed on his head for having shot two members of a rival street gang last year, the indictment alleges.

There are also patches associated with the gang's alleged sexual rituals. Members are awarded wings of varying colors for engaging in sex acts with women at pre-arranged "wing parties," the indictment states. Members who have sex with a woman with venereal disease are given green wings; those who have sex with a woman's corpse are given purple wings, according to the indictment.

The Mongols fund their organization largely through the sale of methamphetamine, according to the indictment. Undercover agents documented dozens of alleged drug deals ranging in quantity from a few grams to half a kilo. Many of the alleged sales were made to undercover agents or confidential informants cooperating with authorities, the indictment states.

But violence seemed to be at the heart of the Mongols' existence.One undercover agent said he was told early in his effort to infiltrate the gang that he "must be willing to kill and die for the Mongols if he wanted to join the organization."Much of the violence described in the indictment involved clashes between the Mongols and their longtime rivals, the Hells Angels.

Mongols' members are accused of tangling with the Hells Angels at a Laughlin, Nev., casino in 2002, at a "Toys for Tots" motorcycle run in 2005, and at a Chuck E. Cheese in San Diego last year. Two Hells Angels and one Mongol were killed in the Nevada casino incident, the indictment alleges.

But the violence was not limited to disputes between warring gangs. Some attacks were motivated by race -- the mostly Latino gang is intolerant of African Americans, authorities say -- and some appeared random.

Two Mongols, known as "Villain" and "Danger," are accused of beating a man to death with a pool cue in a Lancaster nightclub on Valentine's Day last year because he had been badmouthing the gang. Another member is accused of shooting patrons of a Riverside bar and then trying to run them over in the parking lot, also in 2007. A Mongol known as "Dago Bull" told an undercover agent that he and two fellow Mongols tortured a man in 2006 by breaking his knuckles with pliers and one of his knees with a metal pipe. Another member boasted of having beaten a man so badly that he knocked out a tooth, which he kept taped to his microwave as a souvenir.

A Mongol known as "Monster" and two other members are accused of beating a black man at a Hollywood bar in 2006 while shouting racial slurs, the indictment states. Other members beat and repeatedly stabbed a Latina woman whom they saw in the company of a black man.

Those arrested are expected to make their initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles this afternoon.

Undercover probe targets motorcycle gang members in 6 states – Oct 21, 2008 – Washington - By Thomas Watkins; The Associated Press - Dozens of motorcycle gang members were arrested today by federal agents in six states, including Washington, on warrants ranging from drug sales to murder after a three-year undercover investigation in which four agents successfully infiltrated the group.

At least 38 members of the Southern California-based Mongol motorcycle gang were arrested under a federal racketeering indictment that included charges of murder, attempted murder, assault, as well as gun and drug violations, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesman Mike Hoffman said.During some arrests, sharpshooters stood guard on surrounding rooftops and motorcycles were lined up and confiscated."It's going to be a large hit to their organization, we are arresting many of their top members," Hoffman said.

Among those arrested were the gang's former national president Ruben Cavazos.Federal and local agents had 110 federal arrest warrants and 160 search warrants that were being served across Southern California and in Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, Washington and Ohio. The sweep, dubbed Operation Black Rain, was to continue throughout the day, agents said.

Hoffman said the Mongols had been recruiting members of Los Angeles street gangs to assist in their operations.

Four ATF agents infiltrated the gang and were accepted as full members, a difficult process that requires winning the trust of the gang's top leaders over a period of months, Hoffman said.

In recent years, federal prosecutors in Washington have used racketeering laws to prosecute dozens of members of the Washington Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels and the Bandidos MC.

Several local arrests after motorcycle gang investigation – Oct 21, 2008 – Denver, Colorado – By Jace Larson, AP - The ATF served several arrest warrants in a multi-state illegal gun investigation that included suspects in the metro area Tuesday morning.The arrests are part of an investigation into the Mongols Motorcycle Gang. The Colorado investigation discovered suspects violated federal gun laws, according to the ATF. In other states members of the motorcycle gang are accused in a Fed racketeering indictment of murder and attempted murder. Several search warrants were also served in the Denver area, according to Denver Police who assisted the ATF. The searches included at least one house and one truck in Englewood and a business near Platte River Drive and Evans Ave. Fed agents started serving search warrants and making arrests in the Denver area at 6 a.m. The Metro Gang Task Force partnered with the ATF on the Denver-area investigation and arrests. The Associated Press reports in all, agents served 110 federal arrest warrants in Colorado, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Ohio. ATF spokesman Mike Hoffman said four ATF members were fully-inducted members of the motorcycle gang during the investigation, according to the Associated Press. Among those arrested was the Mongols' former national president Ruben Cavazos, according to the AP.

Comment: You don't see me dressing up in a Blue Uniform and trying to infiltrate the ATF do you????? There are MORE crocked cops than any other group!!!

LOS ANGELES - A federal judge on Wednesday barred the Mongols Motorcycle Club from wearing or distributing its logo, which often appears on leather vests and Harley-Davidson bikes.

U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper granted an injunction that prohibits gang members, their family members and associates from wearing, licensing, selling or distributing the logo.

The order comes one day after a nationwide, federal sweep that landed 61 Southern California Mongols members in jail. They face a variety of charges, ranging from narcotics trafficking to murder.

"If any law enforcement officer sees a Mongol wearing his patch, he will be authorized to stop that gang member and literally take the jacket right off his back," said United States Attorney Thomas O'Brien.

Forty-three suspects - including the Mongols' former national president, West Covina resident Ruben "Doc" Cavazos - appeared in United States District Court on Tuesday. The remaining suspects will appear in court throughout the rest of the week, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the Department of Justice.

The members are all named in a 177-page federal indictment that contains 86 counts of racketeering, including murder,

Some of these incidents occurred in the San Gabriel Valley and Whittier areas. The indictment details the alleged crimes of dozens of members and associates of the Mongols Motorcycle Club, and sheds light on the gang's presence in the area.

The Mongols gang was created in Montebello more than 30 years ago, is headquartered out of Cavazos' home in West Covina, and conducts its business throughout bars and in parking lots in the San Gabriel Valley.

"They are an outlaw motorcycle gang, and they are very vicious and very violent," said West Covina Detective Dan Nalian. "They make no bones about them being violent."

Incidents found in the indictment reveal a drug deal in a Rosemead shopping center parking lot, a murder threat against a rival gang member in a Covina pub and a scuffle in an uptown Whittier restaurant, Steve's BBQ.

"These guys have always treated me with respect, but there have been times when things got sticky," Hernandez said.

On Feb. 4, an associate with the Mongols threatened to assault an African-American man if he did not leave the restaurant. Hernandez, who remembered the incident, said they were able to defuse the situation without police involvement.

"I have closed my business in the past because of problems like these, and I was considering closing it again on Sundays because of them," Hernandez said.

Whenever the Mongols would go to his restaurant, it would usually be on Sundays, he said. But his business was not the only one. He said that the Mongols "frequent uptown Whittier quite a bit."

They also frequented other locations, including the Firehouse Grill in Whittier, Around the Corner Bar in West Covina, Kelly's Pub in Arcadia and the Sportsman Bar in Hacienda Heights, all of which are named in the indictment.

At Katie Jakes Bar in Covina on Feb. 1, Mongols threatened to shoot rival gang members. Eight days later at Around the Corner Bar in West Covina, Mongols had an armed confrontation with a rival gang.

Management at Katie Jakes, Kelly's Pub, and Around the Corner Bar were unaware of any confrontation, they said.

At Kelly's Pub in Arcadia, one manager, who did not want to be identified, said that the Mongols have always been very respectful of the bartenders and have not caused any problems.

The Mongols started in Montebello in the 1970s. The club has since branched out across the United States and even to Europe. The Mongols are primarily Latino and formed because the Hell's Angels refused to allow Latino members, officials said.

The Mongols' strongest presence remains in Southern California, where nearly 400 of the 600 members are located.